Agricultural research, or a new bioweapon system?
Agricultural research, or a new bioweapon system?
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农业研究，还是新的生物武器系统？
作者：
R. Reeves;S. Voeneky;D. Caetano;F. Beck;C. Boëte
昆虫传递水平遗传改变是农业遗传技术研究的热点之一。农业遗传技术通常通过将实验室产生的水平遗传改变引入目标物种的染色体来实现其农艺学目的。然而，这种方法的速度和灵活性是有限的，因为修改的染色体必须从一代垂直遗传到下一代。为了消除这一限制，美国国防高级研究计划局（DARPA）资助的一项正在进行的研究计划旨在分散感染性转基因病毒，这些病毒已被设计为直接在田间编辑作物染色体。这是通过水平转移的基因工程，而不是垂直遗传。将这种水平环境遗传改变剂（HEGAAs）分散到生态系统中的监管、生物、经济和社会影响是深远的。此外，该计划规定，这些病毒HEGA进入环境的方式应该是基于昆虫的分散（1）。在DARPA计划的既定目标的背景下，我们认为，从该计划中获得的知识在提高美国农业或应对国家紧急情况（短期或长期）的能力方面似乎非常有限。此外，对于实现预期农业效益的主要实际和监管障碍，也缺乏充分的讨论。因此，该计划可能被广泛视为为敌对目的开发生物制剂及其运载工具的努力，如果属实，将构成违反《生物武器公约》的行为。
Insect-delivered horizontal genetic alteration is concerning Agricultural genetic technologies typically achieve their agronomic aims by introducing laboratory-generated modifications into target species' chromosomes. However, the speed and flexibility of this approach are limited, because modified chromosomes must be vertically inherited from one generation to the next. In an effort to remove this limitation, an ongoing research program funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) aims to disperse infectious genetically modified viruses that have been engineered to edit crop chromosomes directly in fields. This is genetic engineering through horizontal transfer, as opposed to vertical inheritance. The regulatory, biological, economic, and societal implications of dispersing such horizontal environmental genetic alteration agents (HEGAAs) into ecosystems are profound. Further, this program stipulates that the means of delivery of these viral HEGAAs into the environment should be insect-based dispersion (1). In the context of the stated aims of the DARPA program, it is our opinion that the knowledge to be gained from this program appears very limited in its capacity to enhance U.S. agriculture or respond to national emergencies (in either the short or long term). Furthermore, there has been an absence of adequate discussion regarding the major practical and regulatory impediments toward realizing the projected agricultural benefits. As a result, the program may be widely perceived as an effort to develop biological agents for hostile purposes and their means of delivery, which—if true—would constitute a breach of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).